Organization of NextGen study trips to Bangladesh
Our client is the Family Practice Department of Banque de Luxembourg, which supports members of the next generation, or NextGen, who are considering joining the family business, through programs such as the Summer Academy.
Client needs
As part of the bank's NextGen program, WISE was retained to organize study trips to Bangladesh for groups of young people in 2017, 2018, and 2019. These trips aimed to achieve the following objectives:
- Explore ideas of creativity and entrepreneurship in a context of frugality. What can this teach us about thinking innovatively despite limited resources?
- Meet people who have experienced repeated loss and learn how they manage the very real risks they face in their daily lives.
- Reflect on the concept of leadership by observing the team leading the NGO Friendship, which has more than 4 million beneficiaries in Bangladesh.
Helping young participants to get the most out of such a trip requires special expertise: we have found it with Wise in their ability to create the conditions for an authentic encounter with the inhabitants of the communities supported by Friendship, but also with themselves. With the delicacy and respect that such an inner journey demands.
Beyond the question of generosity, the trip enabled the young participants to explore ideas of individual and collective responsibility. The aim was not so much to turn them into philanthropists but rather to encourage them to reflect on their own purpose.
Impact of the project
The trips contributed to gradually building awareness amongst participants and inspired several interesting projects, not all of them in philanthropy. It offered the young people a chance to step outside of the boundaries of family, company, school, and the divisions of time and space that constrain our worldview, and meet people with very different experiences. This encouraged them to start thinking about the responsibility that runs through all our lives, both as individuals and as entrepreneurs.
How WISE added value
WISE facilitated introspection by confronting what participants thought they knew with the reality on the ground. Before meeting the Friendship team, it was important for them to first visit beneficiary families to understand the impact they could have. This provided them with a tangible experience of field learning, an important skill for the leaders of tomorrow. Lastly, the trip created links between the daily reality of these young people and that of the organizations they met in Bangladesh.